Chapter 1: The Perfect Lie

EMILIA POV

The key turned silently in the lock.

I wanted to surprise David.

After three exhausting days at a business conference in San Diego, all I wanted was to come home to my fiancé, curl up on the couch, and finally breathe.

Instead, the apartment greeted me with an eerie silence.

I dropped my suitcase beside the front door and slipped off my heels, smiling to myself.

"David?" I called softly.

No answer.

Then I heard it.

A muffled laugh.

A man's voice.

A woman's whisper.

My smile disappeared.

Every instinct inside me screamed that something was wrong.

Slowly, I walked toward our bedroom.

The hallway suddenly felt longer than ever before.

My heartbeat echoed inside my ears.

The bedroom door was slightly open.

Through the crack, I saw tangled white sheets.

Bare skin.

A familiar tattoo on David's shoulder.

And long blonde hair spread across my pillow.

Rebecca.

My best friend.

For several seconds, I couldn't breathe.

My fingers tightened around the doorknob until my knuckles turned white.

Then I pushed the door open.

"Surprise," I said calmly.

Both of them froze instantly.

David jumped back as though he'd been electrocuted.

"Em..."

"This isn't what it looks like."

Rebecca quickly grabbed the blanket to cover herself, refusing to meet my eyes.

"Emily... please..."

"Don't."

My voice sounded strangely calm.

"Just don't."

The room was silent except for David's panicked breathing.

"How long?" I asked.

Neither of them answered.

"How long?"

David rubbed both hands through his hair.

"Six months."

The words landed like bullets.

Six months.

Half a year.

While I had been planning our wedding.

Choosing invitations.

Saving money for our honeymoon.

Working overtime to help pay for our future.

They had been sleeping together.

"Rebecca," I said quietly.

"Get out."

"Emily..."

"Get. Out."

She hurriedly collected her clothes from the floor.

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't ever say those words to me again."

Without another glance, she rushed past me.

The front door slammed shut.

Now it was just David and me.

"Baby..." he began.

"It didn't mean anything."

I actually laughed.

"Six months didn't mean anything?"

"It was a mistake."

"No."

"A mistake happens once."

"This happened every single day you chose to lie to me."

"That's called a decision."

David stepped closer.

"We've been drifting apart."

"You've been working constantly."

"You're always stressed."

"So this is somehow my fault?"

"I'm not saying that..."

"You just did."

I walked to the closet and pulled out another suitcase.

David frowned.

"What are you doing?"

"Packing."

"You're seriously leaving?"

"Did you expect me to stay?"

"Couples survive affairs."

"We're stronger than this."

"We're nothing," I replied.

"Not anymore."

As I folded clothes into the suitcase, David kept talking.

"Think about everything we've built together."

"Our apartment."

"Our future."

"Our wedding."

I zipped the suitcase shut.

"The wedding is canceled."

"The ring is on the kitchen counter."

"Everything else is yours."

"Em..."

"No."

He grabbed my wrist.

"Please don't walk away."

I pulled free.

"You walked away six months ago."

"I'm just finally catching up."

David sighed heavily.

"You know what your problem is?"

"You never truly left your past behind."

"Excuse me?"

"You pretend you're sophisticated."

"Professional."

"But underneath you're still just a biker's daughter."

"Your father was nothing but a thug."

The slap echoed through the bedroom.

His head snapped sideways.

"Don't."

"Ever."

"Talk about my father again."

David stared at me in disbelief.

"See?"

"Exactly what I mean."

"Violence."

"Anger."

"You're exactly like your family."

"You're lucky," I whispered.

"My brother would've done a lot worse than slap you."

Without another word, I picked up my suitcase and left.

The moment I reached my car, the tears came.

Not because I still loved David.

But because I'd wasted four years believing in someone who never deserved me.

My phone buzzed repeatedly.

Rebecca.

David.

Apologies.

Excuses.

Promises.

I deleted every message without reading them.

Then I drove across town to Sofia's apartment.

She opened the door wearing oversized pajamas.

One look at my face told her everything.

"He cheated," she guessed.

I nodded.

"With Rebecca."

"That bastard."

She pulled me into a tight hug.

"You're safe now."

"Come inside."

A few minutes later we sat on her couch with two glasses of tequila.

"Now what?" Sofia asked.

"I honestly don't know."

"I built my whole life around him."

"Then build a better one," she replied.

"One that actually belongs to you."

Before I could answer, my phone rang.

Unknown number.

Area code 760.

Desert Ridge.

Home.

My stomach instantly tightened.

"Answer it," Sofia whispered.

With trembling fingers, I accepted the call.

"Hello?"

"Em?"

Marco.

My older brother.

His voice sounded broken.

"Marco?"

"What's wrong?"

Silence.

Then three words shattered my world.

"Dad is dead."

The phone nearly slipped from my hands.

"What...?"

"The Reapers attacked last night."

"Three bullets."

"He's gone."

Everything around me disappeared.

My father.

Vincent Romano.

The man who taught me how to ride a motorcycle before I was tall enough to touch the ground.

The man who terrified every boy that looked at me.

The man I'd spent six years trying to avoid.

Gone.

"Come home," Marco pleaded.

"The funeral is in three days."

"The club needs family now more than ever."

"There's going to be war."

"I... I'll come."

"Good."

Marco hesitated before speaking again.

"One more thing."

"Ghost is back."

My heart stopped.

Axel Cruz.

My brother's best friend.

My first love.

The man who disappeared six years ago without saying goodbye.

"He's coming to pick you up tomorrow morning."

The line went dead.

I stared silently at the dark phone screen.

David's betrayal had broken my heart.

My father's death had shattered it.

But hearing Axel's name after all these years...

That awakened wounds I had spent six years trying to bury.

Tomorrow...

I was going home.

Back to the Iron Serpents.

Back to the world I had escaped.

Back to the man who had never truly left my heart.